Nayga, Rodolfo M., Jr.

September, 2021

Consumer Preference for Grass-Fed Beef: A Case of Food Safety Halo Effect

By: Lim, Kar H.; Hu, Wuyang; Nayga, Rodolfo M. Jr.
Consumers may perceive grass-fed beef to be superior in terms of food safety due to false impressions and a persistent, unproven narrative. Such misperception can distort the market, which may require policy intervention. Using a discrete choice experiment, results indicate that those who perceive higher food safety risks from consuming beef and those who hold the belief that grass-fed beef is safer than grain-fed have a stronger preference for grass-fed beef. This is an important finding as there is no scientific consensus that grass-fed beef is safer. This potential misperception warrants further scrutiny.
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August, 2011

Revisiting Cheap Talk with New Evidence from a Field Experiment

By: Silva, Andres; Nayga, Rodolfo M., Jr.; Campbell, Benjamin L.; Park, John L.
We assess the reduction of hypothetical bias in consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for products by applying a generic, short, and neutral cheap talk script in a retail setting. Using an open-ended elicitation mechanism with non-hypothetical, hypothetical, and hypothetical with cheap talk treatments, our results indicate that the hypothetical WTP values are higher than the nonhypothetical values, but the hypothetical with cheap talk values are not significantly different from non-hypothetical estimates.
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August, 2005

Household Fast Food Expenditures and Children’s Television Viewing: Can They Really Significantly Influence Children’s Dietary Quality?

By: You, Wen; Nayga, Rodolfo M., Jr.
Previous studies have found a strong relationship between food-away-from-home expenditures and television viewing, and children's diet. This study revisits this issue by examining the impact of household fast food expenditures and children's television viewing on children's dietary quality. Results indicate that both factors have statistically significant and negative effects. However, the elasticities of children's diet quality with respect to both factors are quite inelastic. Results also suggest that the effects of these two factors differ between children younger than 11 years old and children at least 11 years old. Relevant policy implications are discussed.
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December, 2004

Consumer Acceptance of Nutritionally Enhanced Genetically Modified Food: Relevance of Gene Transfer Technology

By: Onyango, Benjamin M.; Nayga, Rodolfo M., Jr.
This study examines consumer's willingness to consume different types of a nutritionally enhanced food product (i.e., breakfast cereal with calcium, omega fatty acids, or anti-oxidants) derived from grains genetically modified using two types of technologies: plant-to-plant gene transfer technology and animal-to plant gene transfer technology. Findings indicate a majority of the respondents are willing or somewhat willing to consume the three types of nutritionally enhanced genetically modified breakfast cereal, but are less willing if the genetically modified product is derived from animal-to-plant gene transfer technology than from plant-to-plant gene transfer technology. However, the results of the ordered probit models suggest there are groups of consumers who will not approve of the use of either type of gene transfer technology even with the presence of an enhanced nutritional benefit in the product.
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July, 2000

THE EFFECT OF FOOD LABEL USE ON NUTRIENT INTAKES: AN ENDOGENOUS SWITCHING REGRESSION ANALYSIS

By: Kim, Sung-Yong; Nayga, Rodolfo M., Jr.; Capps, Oral, Jr.
This study examines the impact of consumers' use of food labels on selected nutrient intakes of Americans. Endogenous switching regression techniques are employed to control for heterogeneity in the label use decision. When the nutrient intakes of label users and the expected nutrient intakes of label users in the absence of labels are compared, food label use decreases individuals' average daily intakes of calories from total fat and saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium by 6.90%, 2.10%, 67.60 milligrams, and 29.58 milligrams, respectively. In addition, consumer nutrition label use increases average daily fiber intake by 7.51 grains.
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